The mixture of different chemical compounds presents new challenges in the management of pests in different cultures. And it is from this scenario that our alumni Higor de Souza Rodrigues focused his research and highlighted its results.
The work entitled “Synergism and unintended effects of the association between imidacloprid and sodium chloride (NaCl) on the management of Euschistus heros” was attended by researchers Raul Guedes and Eugênio Oliveira, also professors in the Department of Entomology at UFV, Professor Philip Newland from the University of Southampton, professor Khalid Haddi from the Universidade Federal de Lavras and agronomists Noélio Ferreira Filho and Mateus Campos. For Higor, this shows that a heterogeneous team and with the thoughts that add can create works that really contribute to the agricultural sector.
That was the final result of that integration. The work published in August, in Pest Management Science, brings practical contributions to be used in the management of one of the main soybean pests, the brown stink bug, Euschistus heros. The work focused on the association of the most used insecticide in the control of bed bugs in soy, imidacloprid, with table salt, composed of great practical demand in commercial fields.
The associated use of NaCl with the insecticide imidacloprid is common for producers in the center-west of the country (areas with extensive fields of production). The benefits that the mixture brings are recognized, however, the work shows that there is an increase in the effectiveness of insecticidal molecule with the addition of NaCl, and this has undesirable effects due to the compensation of E. heros, wich increases egg production and compromises its handling.
Higor Rodrigues has worked with this group of insect since 2015, when he joined the master’s degree in Entomology. During his academic degree he participated in congresses and symposia on this theme and in several laboratory and field tests that use this pest as a model. His participation resulted in two more works that contribute to the management of E. heros: “Area-wide spatial survey of the likelihood of insecticide control failure in the neotropical brown stink bug Euschistus heros” and “Toxicity and imidacloprid-mediated alterations on the salivary glands of the Neotropical brown stink bug, Euschistus heros”. In addition, he had the opportunity to do an exchange in Italy during his master’s degree and to undertake a sandwich doctorate at Embrapa Soja, based in Goiânia.
Through these researches and other opportunities, Higor had more intimate contact with the private sector, the Research and Development area where he currently works.
When asked about his feeling about this production, Higor responds with pride “My feeling is satisfaction to see that the work that I have dedicated myself for so long has brought results that can be inserted in a productive chain as important as that of soybeans”.
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